James Hong is an American actor and voice actor with a career spanning over seven decades, known for his extensive work in film, television, and animation. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1929, he studied civil engineering before pursuing acting full-time in the 1950s. Early in his career, he was one of the founding members of the East West Players in 1965, a Los Angeles-based theatre company established to increase Asian American representation in the industry.

His voice acting portfolio includes prominent roles in major animated productions. He voiced Chi-Fu in Disney's Mulan and has been the voice of Mr. Ping, the adoptive father of the protagonist, in the Kung Fu Panda franchise since the first film in 2008, reprising the role for multiple sequels and series, including Kung Fu Panda 4. He also voiced the character Daolon Wong in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures. His voice work extends to video games such as Sleeping Dogs and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. In 2011, he received an Annie Award for his voice acting in the television special Kung Fu Panda Holiday.

In the realm of anime, Hong provided the English voice for the character known as The Elder in the Star Wars: Visions episode titled The Elder, which was animated by the studio Trigger and released on Disney+ in 2021. This anthology series features various anime shorts set in the Star Wars galaxy, and Hong was part of the English voice cast for that specific installment, alongside actors David Harbour and Jordan Fisher. His performance as the titular Sith character was noted for being genuinely unsettling.

Hong's prolific career, which includes over 600 film and television credits, was honored in 2022 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, making him the oldest recipient of the honor at the age of ninety-three.